Anyone know of a system that does this? bascially a heavy duty alternator that also gives you 240v AC via control box etc. I remember seeing something years ago on the net, but of course can't find it now. Seem to remember it can also weld with direct DC. I figure a quietly running V8 would be more preferable than a noisy small gen for occasional blackouts we get, and very useful for power tools elsewhere.
I found unipower in Australia but nothing UK based.
Cheers, Andrew
Andrew T. uttered summat worrerz funny about:
Sounds like alot of work for little reward to me.
I'd personally bung another battery in the Rangie in the spare slot. Stick a split charge system on it. Use a good battery - leisure type and then buy a frigging big inverter. For what power you actually need in a power cut (lighting usually) it'll be fine. It'll also be portable for the next vehicle and can be run till the battery can't take any more then you switch on the engine to charge it all back up again thus saving thousands in V8 tickover costs :-)
Yes, good idea, but to make it usable for power tools you need a big inverter, and I'd want a pure sine wave inverter too for the house stuff (I already have a wind turbine with batteries & inverter - but there's always a time when it's not enough), however a small pure sine inverter + additional battery for house stuff only is probably the sensible way to go, I only need about 100watts for the house. But, as usual my ideas always develop into a non sensible v. expensive idea - like the uni-power system. So thanks for the reality check! Andrew
There was a 240v genny that ran from the PTO. Friend of mine found one on a scrap Landie and transferred it to a narrow boat. But it was a loong time ago....
Attached to the PTO, you could modify an off the shelf "generator" to do it, but you'd have to get the right kind of rev range.
Steve
Yes, thats where my idea came from, we had a power cut last night, and the turbine batteries would probably not last the night, so I went outside to take a look at the 3.5kw honda petrol engined genny I have.
- it has a not very healthy engine, someone ran it dry of oil, but the generator part of it is perfect, so that was my first idea, get a PTO for my 110 and rig it up. But a PTO for the LT230 is not cheap and not easy to find, and also the generator needs 3000 rpm, of course with pullies etc I could make the genny do this with relatively slow engine speed, then I started to think about engine mounted 240v alternators instead etc etc etc, - but does anyone have a PTO for LT230 lying around? I do fancy this as a project...
Andrew
Last thing you want is a petrol engine of this size (if needed) to drive a genny. Diesel (red?) for this use is tax free.
good point, but cost of the fuel is not an issue for the amount of time it would run, the hassle of keeping a seperate can for red diesel and the risk of putting into our citroen diesel by mistake is not worth the risk. - And its not as much fun as trying to fit a PTO genny to the LR.
Andrew
Andrew T. wrote: - And its not as much fun as trying to fit a PTO genny
Spoken like a true engineer Sir !
Steve
Does it need 3000 RPM ? If its a multipole one, it can run at an integer divisor of 3000 - 1500, 750 are possibilities too.
Steve
It is a bit overkill having a 150+bhp (100kW+) engine driving a 2kW generator... Now if you had a 10kW tractor PTO unit hanging off it and used most of that available 10kW it would be a different matter.
You can get the duty paid on petrol back if you jump through enough hoops. There is still duty on red diesel, just not as much as on white.
alternators
If you follow it with a big inverter you can have the advantage enjoyed by the 'inverter generators' they are selling these days, where the engine speed matters very little, and the electronics of the inverter gives you a decent 50Hz sine wave. Get the biggest alternator(s) you can find, lash them onto the engine feeding a big battery(ies) that feed the inverter. This way not only are you only having to source fairly standard kit, but you don't actually have to run the engine all the time.
AWEM
You aren't thinking of thoseMOD Onan gennys are you not Landy but 2 cyl petrol I reckon £175 + vat aint too bad
I got the 3000 rpm bit from the plate on the side of the generator which also gives rating, voltage etc. So I've no idea really if it could do others.
Andrew
Thank you, thank you, I do like a challange!
Andrew
No, it was an engine mounted alternator, just like the unipower system, but UK based, I do seem to remember though it being rather expensive so isn't really a realistic proposition.
I just need to find a PTO for the LT230, as I'm sure I could find other things to fit once I had it.. :-))
Andrew
150bhp maybe (1986 110 3.5 carb V8?) but not at idle, or just above, which is where I would want it to run. But as you say, once I had the PTO, there's lots of fun to be had hanging other things of it. I have an old 12hp kubota tractor also that has a PTO of course and is great!, maybe I could find a genny for that - now there's another idea, but much noisier than the V8.
Andrew
This thread has taken me back about 10 years, I had similar plans for my Fergie TEF20 for up at Ma and Pa's.
I've now got a petrol Genny, an Inverter. Box of matches, parafin lamps and candles.
They have had about 10 to 15 power cuts in that time probably 3 or 4 that were worth bothering with owt.
I also had a plan to bung a 13amp plug in the mains feed to our central heating boiled just in case we had a long hard winter and the electric went off. At least the central heating could be run for an hour or so.... still haven't done it. Then again the caravan is now at the side of the house :-)
Lee D
Is this what you mean? It can probably be modified to run direct from the car
Interesting, and looks great, but I'm really after the 240v generation part, I mentioned it because the one I found before could also weld.
Andrew
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